DR-4344-CA Public Notice 022

INITIAL PUBLIC NOTICE: Desalination Plant Intake Pump Scour Protection (Phase 2), Santa Barbara County, California | HMGP 4344-385-107

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) intends to provide federal financial assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to the City of Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara County, California, to stabilize and protect the Charles A. Meyer Desalination Plant intake pump platforms on the ocean bottom. The proposed action would mitigate impacts from coastal storms and earthquakes by reinforcing the existing platforms. Pursuant to Executive Order 11988 (Floodplain Management) and FEMA’s implementing regulations at Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 9, FEMA hereby provides interested parties with a notice of its intent to carry out an action affecting a floodplain.

The purpose of the proposed action is to reduce seismic hazards and scour damage from coastal storms. The proposed action at the underwater intake platforms would consist of the following activities: 1) demolition to remove and dispose of sheet piles and pea gravel, and temporary stabilization; 2) cleaning of the platforms and core hole drilling by divers; 3) placement of filter fabric, armor stone, and grout bag formwork on and around the perimeter of the platforms; 4) filling of grout formwork with grout; and 5) removal, stockpiling on shore, and disposal of construction waste.

The project staging and stockpile area on land would be in a Special Flood Hazard Area as depicted on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Number 06083C1391J, effective date September 28, 2018. The FIRM shows that the project area lies within Zone AE, an area that has a 1-percent probability of flooding every year and where predicted floodwater elevations have been established.

Additional information about FEMA’s proposed action, including maps showing the potential impacts on floodplains, may be obtained by writing the FEMA Region IX Environmental Officer at FEMA, 1111 Broadway, Suite 1200, Oakland, California 94607, or fema-rix-ehp-documents@fema.dhs.gov. All requests should be received within 15 days after publication of this notice.